American reporter Jill Carroll is being held by the Islamic Army in Iraq, the insurgent group that freed two French journalists in 2004 after four months in captivity, Iraq's Interior Minister said yesterday.

Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, who is in charge of Iraq's police, also said he believed the 28-year-old freelance reporter for the Christian Science Monitor is still alive, although the deadline set by her captors for America to meet their demands expired Sunday.

Three videotapes provided by the kidnappers to Arab satellite television stations identified the group holding her as the previously unknown "Revenge Brigades." She was seized January 7 in Baghdad and her translator was killed.

However, Mr. Jabr told Iraqi television that he believes Ms. Carroll is being held by the Islamic Army in Iraq, one of the country's principal insurgent groups.

Mr. Jabr said the same group was responsible for kidnapping his sister, who was seized about four days before Ms. Carroll and freed about two weeks later.

"The kidnapping of the American journalist, Jill Carroll, occurred about the same time as the abduction of my sister," he said. "I was equally keen to get both of them released. I recognized that the Islamic army was responsible for both plots."